A baby albatross died from a plastic toothpick. Its mother mistook the item for food and fed it to the young. It stuck in the gullet leading to its death. This has been revealed in the latest documentary BBC series "Blue Planet II" of #Sir David Attenborough.

Sky News reports that the 91-year-old iconic TV presenter has expressed concerns about #plastic waste that is clogging the world's oceans. He wants people to realize the consequences, and take action to prevent cluttering the #Environment with plastic discards so that the future of humanity is not doomed.

The matter is serious, because the survival of marine life, including animals and birds, is at stake.

The death toll due to plastics runs into thousands, and the reasons are either ingestion of plastics or getting entangled in them.

Global warming and overfishing

Sir David Attenborough also brought up the importance of checking global warming and controlling overfishing to ensure a healthy environment. Both are harmful to the well-being of our planet Earth and everyone will have to go in for measures to contain these evils that, like the plastic wastes, threaten the world. It is not only about marine lives but also about vegetation that bears the brunt of global warming.

While on the subject, the veteran broadcaster took a dig at US President Donald Trump, who did not sign the Paris accord on climate change. Sir David Attenborough explained that the accord was to tune the world to a common frequency, and he hoped that the United States would finally sign the accord because it would be for the benefit of the entire planet and not be isolated in tiny sectors.

Positive action is required

Protecting the environment is the responsibility of not only a few groups of like-minded persons but must become a way of life for all. Plastic waste is a major threat to marine lives as well as land-based animals. According to Sir David Attenborough, in a rough estimate, nearly eight million tons of plastic winds up in the sea annually and a portion sinks to the bottom, while the remaining portion keeps floating around. This is non-biodegradable material and continues to accumulate in the oceans, which is not a desirable situation. One method to reduce such waste is to go in for alternate material like paper.

It all boils down to the control of various parameters that disturb the ecological balance and result in abnormalities like flash floods, hurricanes, drought conditions, and forest fires. These are creations of man, and he must find remedies to ensure that the world remains healthy for future generations.